Title
Enacting a new Chapter 9-3200 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Shipping and Packaging Waste Reduction Ordinance," to prohibit the use of disposable packaging materials that contain polystyrene foam and to require the use of biodegradable/compostable or recyclable disposable packaging materials by package shippers, city departments and city contractors and lessees unless there is no affordable alternative; all under certain terms and conditions.
Body
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHIILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 1. A new Chapter 9-3200 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Shipping and Packaging Waste Reduction Ordinance," is hereby enacted, to read as follows:
CHAPTER 9-3200. SHIPPING AND PACKAGING WASTE REDUCTION ORDINANCE.
ยง9-3201. Definitions.
(a) "Affordable" means purchasable for not more than 10 percent more than the purchase cost of the non-Biodegradable non-Compostable or non-recyclable alternative(s).
(b) "ASTM Standard" means meeting the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Standards D6400 or D6868 for biodegradable and compostable plastics, as those standards may be amended.
(c) "Compostable" means all the materials in the product or package will break down into, or otherwise become part of, usable compost (e.g., soil-conditioning material, mulch) in a safe and timely manner in an appropriate composting program or facility, or in a home compost pile or device. Compostable Disposable Package and Shipping Materials must meet ASTM-Standards for compostability and any bio-plastic or plastic like product must be clearly labeled, preferably with a color symbol, to allow proper identification such that a compost collector and processor can easily distinguish the ASTM Standard Compostable plastic from non-ASTM Standard Compostable plastic. For the purposes of this chapter the term biodegradable shall have the same meaning as compostable. This chapter uses the terms ...
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